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  • UNICEF seeks more investments in education for African children

    UNICEF seeks more investments in education for African children

    Education

    Nairobi, June 14, 2024 (Xinhua/NAN) United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said massive investments in basic education for African children are required to help the continent realise its long-term transformation agenda.

    Etleza Kadili, UNICEF regional director for Eastern and Southern Africa, said in a statement issued in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital ahead of the Day of the African Child that will be marked Sunday.

    It said education financing on the continent remains dismal.

    It added that less than one in five countries have dedicated 20 per cent of their public budgets to enhancing foundational skills for their children.

    “To ensure prosperity in Africa we urgently need to see a continental revolution where commitments are turned into concrete action so children can attain the foundational skills necessary for them to progress to higher forms of education.”

    The theme of the 2024 Day of the African Child, which is observed annually on June 16, will be “Education for all children in Africa: the time is now,” underscoring the urgency to realise universal childhood literacy in the continent.

    UNICEF said in spite of its role in building human capital to propel Africa’s growth, education financing in the continent has slackened, preventing millions of children from acquiring the basic literacy and skills that they require to thrive.

    In spite of significant efforts by African governments over the last decade to boost primary and secondary school enrolment, schools continue to lack basic amenities, are overcrowded, and have insufficient teachers, according to UNICEF.

    The UN agency noted that four out of every five African children aged 10 years are unable to read and understand a simple written text, highlighting the dismal learning outcomes on the continent.

    UNICEF estimates that about 183 billion U.S. dollars are required annually to support children’s education in Africa and achieve the Sustainable Development Goal on education.

    However, available resources currently stand at 106 billion U.S. dollars, leaving a financing gap of over 40 per cent.

    The agency further noted that African governments spend around two per cent of their education budgets on pre-primary education, while 20 per cent is allocated to tertiary learning. (Xinhua/NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

    UMD/AMM

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    Edited by Ummul Idris and Abiemwense Moru

     

     

     

  • Group implements early child learning programme to support education

    Education

    By Nicholas Obisike

    Aba (Abia) June 4, 2024 (NAN) The Civil Society Action Coalition on Education for All (CSACEFA) has commenced the implementation of Early Child Learning Advancement Programme (E-CLAP) in support of primary education in Abia.

    The Coordinator of the group for the South-East, Mrs Eunice Egbuna, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Aba on Tuesday.

    She said that the programme was sponsored by Sterling Bank, through its Education Support outlet, Sterling One Foundation, which engaged CSACEFA to implement the programme in Abia.

    Egbuna said that the programme, designed to last for eight months, would commence at Umuola Central School, Aba.

    She said that the programme would focus on the education of children in their first three years in the primary school (Basic 1-3) with emphasis on the use of mother tongue in educating them.

    “This is with the belief that mother tongue helps to impact lasting knowledge on the children and help them to learn faster.

    “In addition, it focuses on employment of new techniques, well-tailored technology, application of non-formal education curriculum and innovative resource materials in the teaching and learning of literacy and numeracy.

    “The programme also promotes safe space application in the teaching and learning environments as well as recourse to the rights of the learner,” Egbuna said.

    She said that the programme would be more beneficial to children in the rural areas and conflict-prone environments, who always lag behind academically for the lack of exposure and concentration.

    “Because of that, their first three years in the primary school is punctuated by a lot of struggles to adjust to new environment, which often lead to the lack of concentration and difficulty in learning.

    “This programme, therefore, aims at injecting the use of technologies, such as audio-visual materials, non-formal education curriculum and other innovations.

    According to her, the programme also aims at the injection of resource materials to sustain their interest and improve their learning ability in literacy and numeracy,” Egbuna said.

    She opined that by the end of the whole exercise, a good number of beneficiaries would have been impacted on to the level of being able to show mastery of reading and writing.

    “They will all do better in calculation within their scope in basic four to six, and to achieve all these, teachers of the early grade pupils will be trained to adapt to this new trend.

    “They will be monitored after the training to access how well or otherwise they are doing in the application of the learning, as the pupils’ learning outcome will also be monitored,” she said.

    Egbuna said that Umuola Central School, Aba, had been chosen as the pilot school and that the outcome of the project would determine its extension to other schools in Abia.

    She urged parents to support their children in learning the new learning technology and the juxtaposition of formal and non-formal curriculum in the school.

    This, she said, would help the children to develop interest in skills of their choice.

    NAN reports that an interactive session was also organised for the parents of the pupils, who commended the organisers and sponsors of the programme.

    They described it as a laudable initiative. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

    NUO/EMAF
    Edited by Emmanuel Afonne